Wheaton South beats Providence to reach state final

Jack McCarthySpecial to ChicagoSports.com

Rob Samp made sure he was calm and collected on Saturday morning.

And a focused, consistent performance from Samp was just what Wheaton Warrenville South needed to gain a berth in tonight's boys volleyball championship game after the three-game semifinal victory over top-ranked Providence at Hoffman Estates.

"After yesterday I blew up after the game," said Samp. "I sat down at home, didn't dwell on it the rest of the day and prepared myself for today. I knew I would make mistakes today, but I just had to play through it."

Wheaton Warrenville South (33-7) goes for its second straight title Saturday night against either Buffalo Grove or Neuqua Valley. The Tigers have won four state titles, more than any other program.

Providence (35-2) will play for third and would become the winningest boys team in school history with a victory.

After splitting the first two games, the Tigers jumped out to a quick 9-2 lead in game three. But the Celtics weren't about to fold up.

"We were down by seven (but) we knew it wasn't over," said Providence setter Jonathan Gustafson. "We've come back from games far worse. They (the Tigers) know what it takes to win and I knew we couldn't give up. The thing I had to remember was to keep calm."

The Celtics indeed battled back and claimed a 14-13 lead on Hayden Grove's kill. They maintained the advantage from there -- and appeared to be closing in on a victory with a 22-19 advantage following a Tiger error.

But Providence then fell victim to its own mistakes, with five errant shots and mistakes leading to Tiger points.

South then reached the brink at 24-22 on a Samp kill and then won when the Celtics tipped a return out of bounds.

Senior outside Eric Hardek and junior Neill Nystrom each added seven kills for the Tigers while junior setter Joe Kelly had 21 assists. Senior middle Eric Daliege and Grove each had 11 kills for the Celtics.